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Invocations/Benedictions/Grace
Invocation #1
Today, I ask you not to bow your heads, but instead to take a moment to look around the room at all of the people here, in this moment, sharing together this experience of life and dedication to working toward improving the lives of [constituents].
Ideological division, tense debates, frustration, and challenges debated and resolved occupy this room; yet, as humans in this space we occupy with more in common than different. We all exist on the same spectrum with the potential for love, for fear, for care, and for compassion.
Carl Sagan once wrote, ‘For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.’ So we bear the vastness of the political process, together, here and now. Let us cherish our shared humanness, our shared capacity for reason, and our shared compassion and love for the [constituents], for our Constitution, and for our democracy. Today, we shall ground policymaking in these values relevant to all [constituents]: in gratitude and in love, in reason and in compassion. We work together for a better [location].
Invocation #2
Instead of bowing our heads and closing our eyes in deference, we will open our eyes wide and face the reality that confronts us, without losing sight of our ideals of what we could achieve.
Let us open our hearts to all people in our community by respecting the inherent dignity and worth of each person, and realize our differences of party affiliation, religion, and ethnicity are merely superficial. May we recognize, through our interdependence, we share a common fate, and that our humanity unites us all.
It is important for us to respect the human rights of each other by maintaining an open mind with honor so we can achieve the greatest good as citizens of [location]. We shall consider the benefits provided by differing perspectives, and willingly question assumptions that do nothing more than obstruct our path to progress.
We must remember, when faced with adversity, to recognize the potential within ourselves and one another, proven by time to overcome the challenges we face.
Invocation #3
Thank you [group leader] and [group members] for this opportunity to provide an inspirational start to your meeting. Today, we will take this moment to think about a few things today rather than simply bow our heads in deference.
When this body comes together to govern, they do so with the consent of the citizens of [location]. [Location] is full of diversity in its community with almost as many different views and opinions. Even so, share my belief that we, as humans, can meet the challenges of these differences and provide a society with less dissension. That we, as humans, can leave a better and more equal culture for our future generations.
This [group] is charged to make the best decisions for the community. For this, I ask that you use your tools of reason, compassion, wisdom, and empathy in your deliberations today; to recognize and hold in account the implications your decisions will have, in the near and distant future. For we design these foundations and plans for growth not just for our current residents but also for the benefit of future generations.
Benediction #1
Together today, we leave with understanding that we are all one in hope and in fear; that we are one in suffering and in joy.
May we find in our own hearts the grace to understand ourselves so that we may understand one another.
May we have the courage of mind and heart to understand those we find different and to say no to easy answers and easy prejudices.
May we make room in our hearts for new ways of understanding and to strangers.
May we overcome fear so that we may respect one another.
May we live up to our values and our highest aspirations.
So may it be.
Benediction #2
Let us pause to take a deep breath and focus our purpose and our energies.
May we live into our own highest aspirations—to work for the public good and lead our community with vision and truth.
May we work not for the few but for the entire community: our weakest, our strongest, our privileged, and our poor.
May we live into the highest aspirations: to speak truth; to do justice; to help those of us in need.
May we build a great [location] where we care for “the least of these.”
May we have the strength to live into our highest aspirations and come alive.
So may it be.
Benediction #3
We came together today as witnesses against fear and hate.
May we have the strength to bear witness;
may we have the strength to advocate against fear and hate,
may we change the hearts and minds of our fellows with power to make changes.
May we have the strength to live into our highest aspirations and come alive with our love and our actions.
Grace #1
In the joy of this day, we pause and call to mind gratitude. Thanks for life’s bounty.
We remember those who grew our food, those who prepared our food, and those who provided our food.
We remember the planet and all its forms of life we all depend upon.
We say “thanks” as we work to ensure that all may enjoy life’s bounty.
So may it be
Grace #2
[secular version of the Serenity prayer]
Grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Grace #3
We give thanks to all the life given so we may enjoy this meal together.
May we vow to respond in turn to those in need with wisdom and compassion.
We give thanks for our friends and family who traveled here today.
May this meal bring us strength and health to face our challenges.
We come together for our highest aspirations.
May we come alive with our love and our actions.